


See the Sky Turn Bright

by Kittens



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Brendol Hux Sucks, F/F, Kissing, Murder, Revenge, Sharing a Bed, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27975006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittens/pseuds/Kittens
Summary: Vespera's had one goal since her son was taken from her. She will do whatever it takes to find him, even if it means working with an unlikely ally.
Relationships: Armitage Hux's Mother/Maratelle Hux
Comments: 12
Kudos: 8
Collections: Star Wars Rare Pairs 2020





	See the Sky Turn Bright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [callmelyss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmelyss/gifts).



Vespera left her small apartment with more than an hour to spare before her meeting. She needed to ensure that she wasn’t followed. Not that she thought she was under suspicion, but it wouldn’t do for anyone to know that she was supposedly sending information to the First Order.

She was not helping the First Order — Vespera would never do such a thing. Her goal was to take them down, and if they all died, she wouldn’t complain. Except for one member. She needed to save him. She would save him, no matter how long it took, no matter what she had to do.

As she made it to the meeting point — a dark alley behind a nightclub — Vespera lifted her hood and pulled her cloak tighter around herself. It felt like it was getting ready to rain. Of course, on Arkanis, it was always getting ready to rain. She had once dreamed of living on a planet where the sun shone for more than ten days a year, but over the past years, her only dreams involved vengeance.

At the sound of light footsteps, Vespera glanced over, careful not to pay too much attention. If it wasn’t the person she was supposed to meet, then she didn’t want to seem interested. After a few years of working as a spy, she’d learned how to best blend in and not attract attention. No one would remember seeing someone minding their own business.

The person stopped in front of her and Vespera looked up, but they were also wearing a cloak, concealing their identity as well. Although perhaps not as well as they thought. The cloak was much nicer than the one Vespera wore, and the style more popular among women than men, especially wealthier women. Which meant she was new to the world of trading information.

“Vespera?” the woman asked.

Vespera’s heart skipped a beat at the sound of her name. No one knew her real name, no one could. If the woman in front of her knew that much about her, then she was in trouble. She’d have to flee the planet, start over somewhere new, maybe even change her name. 

She started to take off, but the woman grabbed her by the wrist. Vespera wasn’t going to give up that easily and she pulled a knife with her free hand, turning to the woman and yanking her wrist free. If the woman wanted a fight, Vespera was more than ready.

“Wait!” the woman called, taking her hood off. “I just want to talk.”

Vespera froze, not because she trusted the woman, but because she recognized her. It would be hard not to — not only was she rumored to be Arkanis’ next Senator, but Vespera had worked in her kitchen years before. Back before she’d lost everything.

Why would Maratelle Hux have tracked her down?”

“What do you want?” Vespera asked, keeping her knife at the ready.

“I want to help you,” she said.

“Why would you help me?” If anything, Maratelle should hate her. After all, Vespera had slept with her husband. Not that she’d ever seemed angry about it. In fact, now that she thought about it, Maratelle’s attitude towards her had never changed, not even after Armitage was born and there was no denying that Brendol was the father.

“We want the same thing,” Maratelle said. “At least, my intelligence indicates that you want to kill Brendol.”

Vespera didn’t confirm that, as she didn’t know why Maratelle was asking. She certainly didn’t trust the other woman. There wasn’t anyone she could truly trust, but Brendol’s ex-wife was certainly at the bottom of the list.

“I know where he is,” Maratelle said. “And I’m going to kill him, whether you help me or not. I just thought you might like the chance.”

“How could you possibly know where he is?” Vespera had been trying to find that information for years, but it was hard to find any information on the First Order. It seemed like half the galaxy didn’t even believe they were real.

“It pays to have friends in the Senate,” Maratelle said, lowering her voice. “The information came from Leia Organa. I trust that she wouldn’t deliberately feed me misinformation.”

Vespera could agree with that. Senator Organa hated the First Order almost as much as Vespera did. If anyone could be trusted, it would be her. But the problem was Maratelle — how could Vespera know that she was telling the truth about her source? 

“Here,” Maratelle said, holding out a datapad. Vespera took it, glancing down quickly while still keeping an eye on Maratelle. “That’s everything I know. Even if you don’t want to work with me, you should at least know where he is.”

Vespera wanted to trust the information in front of her eyes. It was the first time she’d had any information on Brendol’s whereabouts. And more importantly, it listed “A. Hux, Cadet” as well. If Maratelle’s information was correct, then Vespera knew where to find her son.

“I don’t expect you to trust me, but I’m leaving tomorrow morning. If you want to come with me, be there. If not, then I wish you luck in finding your son.”

Maratelle took the datapad back, but placed a smaller object in Vespera’s hand. A datachip. Vespera quickly closed her hand around it, even without knowing for sure what was on it.

“That’s everything I showed you,” Maratelle said. “As well as where to meet and what time I’m leaving in case you decide to join me.”

Maratelle walked away and Vespera stood in the alley, watching her leave. Once she was gone, she looked at the datachip in her hand, still wondering if she could trust Maratelle. She already knew she would go to find Armitage. Even if the information was old or incorrect, it was the best lead she’d had.

The only question was whether she would go with Maratelle or on her own.

***

In the end, the decision was easy, as finding her own way to the Unknown Regions was more trouble than it was worth. And why go through the trouble when she had a ride waiting for her? Vespera still expected that she might be arrested as she walked through the space port to the docking bay indicated on the chip, but no one was paying any attention to her.

Soon, she found herself standing in front of a small ship. It was somewhat larger than a shuttle, but not that much larger. Vespera guessed it was designed for relatively short trips, and not secret missions into the Unknown Regions, but she also took note of the cannons. Those were probably not part of the ship originally.

“Decided to join me?” Maratelle said as she came down the ramp. She looked completely different, no longer wearing her nice cloak or a fancy dress as she had when Vespera had worked for her. She looked like a smuggler, wearing pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and a jacket.

“You’re really going to kill him?” Vespera asked, taking note of the blaster at her side.

“I am,” she said. “And you can help by getting the rest of these supplies on board.”

Maratelle grabbed a crate that was sitting at the bottom of the ramp and headed back up. Vespera only hesitated for a moment before grabbing another crate and following Maratelle. Once all their supplies were on board, they headed to the cockpit, which was fairly small. Sitting in the co-pilot’s seat, Vespera was less than half a meter from Maratelle.

“You know how to fly?” Vespera asked.

“I took lessons,” Maratelle said as she started the ship up. “I wanted to be prepared in case I ever had this chance. But I’ve never done more than a quick jump into hyperspace.”

The ship was already lifting off as Maratelle said that, which meant it was too late for Vespera to change her mind. Not that she would have even if Maratelle said she was just guessing. Soon, they were in space and for the first time in her life, Vespera was leaving Arkanis. She wasn’t sure if she would ever want to return.

Vespera imagined what would happen once she found Armitage — he’d be thirteen years old, and she had no idea if he’d even remember her. But she liked to think that he would and that he’d be happy to see her. She could have Maratelle drop her off on a planet much nicer than Arkanis — she’d heard that Chandrila was nice — and she could start a new life with her son.

She had no idea what she’d do to survive, as her only skills had been working in a kitchen, and now that she’d been working as a spy, she didn’t think she’d want to go back to that. She’d never really enjoyed that kind of work, but she at least couldn’t work for anyone worse than Brendol.

“I can show you the controls,” Maratelle offered, interrupting Vespera’s thoughts. She looked at the other woman, needing a moment to process what she’d said. “Just in case you need to fly the ship.”

“Oh,” Vespera said. “That’s probably a good idea.”

Maratelle explained what all the switches, levers, and buttons did, which took some time as there were quite a few. Vespera wasn’t sure she would remember it all. When they came out of hyperspace, Maratelle didn’t immediately make their next jump.

“Try piloting the ship a little,” Maratelle said, pointing to the controls.

Vespera put her hands on the controls, but didn’t move it. She’d barely driven a speeder — she couldn’t fly an entire ship. But Maratelle reached over, putting a hand over Vespera’s and gently guided her in moving the ship. But Vespera’s attention wasn’t on the ship.

She couldn’t remember the last time someone had touched her so gently, or if anyone ever had. Her life hadn’t led to many opportunities for romantic partners. She hadn’t even realized that she had wanted someone to touch her like that and the only thing she could think of was what it might be like to hold Maratelle’s hand.

“Sorry,” Maratelle said, pulling her hand away. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No, it’s all right,” Vespera said. “I wasn’t expecting it, is all.”

Vespera couldn’t believe how quickly she’d said that. Just hours before, she wasn’t even sure that she could trust Maratelle, and now, she wanted to touch her and be touched in return. It was not the time to be thinking of such things. Once she had Armitage back and Brendol was dead, then she could worry about her personal needs.

“We’re going to be on this ship for a couple of weeks,” Maratelle said. “There’s not much to do until we get to the Unknown Regions, so if you want —”

“Yes,” Vespera blurted out, blushing as she spoke. She couldn’t believe how desperate she sounded, but that one single touch seemed to have awoken something in her. She needed more. Much more. “I mean. I don’t mind doing whatever. To kill time.”

“Well, let’s start small,” Maratelle said. Vespera looked up and saw that she was grinning. She reached over and took Vespera’s hand, her grip loose. It would be easy to pull away, but that was the last thing that Vespera wanted, and she tightened her hand around Maratelle’s. As soon as she did that, Maratelle gave her arm a tug and pulled Vespera up and into her lap.

Vespera put her free hand on Maratelle’s shoulder, while Martelle wrapped her arm around Vespera’s waist. For a few moments — or perhaps it was hours as Vespera really wasn’t sure how much time had passed — they stared at each other. Finally, Vespera leaned closer, moving slowly to give Maratelle a chance to change her mind. But Maratelle didn’t push her away and soon, Vespera’s lips were lightly touching Maratelle’s.

It was far from her first kiss, but Vespera felt tears stinging at her eyes as her body started to tremble. She’d never reacted like that before, and she couldn’t believe such a chaste kiss was causing her to get so emotional. Maratelle let go of Vespera’s hand so she could embrace her with both arms, and for several moments, she just held her.

“I’m sorry,” Vespera said, finding her voice. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s fine,” Maratelle said. “If this is too much, we can take things slower.”

“No!” Vespera couldn’t help but speak too loudly. Whatever it was they were doing, Vespera wanted more of it, not less. She buried her face in Maratelle’s neck. “No.”

“Just let me know if anything is too much,” Maratelle said. “But at least we have a while to get to know each other.”

Vespera smiled. She couldn’t wait to do just that.

***

Vespera curled up tighter against Maratelle in the bed they shared. Maratelle had set up separate sleeping quarters for Vespera, but she hadn’t needed them, wanting to share with Maratelle instead. There wasn’t much room on the ship, which meant the bed was small, but Vespera definitely did not mind. It was a good excuse to cuddle.

The first few days of their journey, they’d gotten to know each other. They talked, but more importantly, they’d touched each other, both of them learning what the other liked and what they didn’t. Vespera had even learned several things about herself in the process.

As much as she enjoyed it, she knew the dangerous part of their mission was about to begin. Either one of them could be killed, but even if they both survived, Vespera wasn’t sure what would happen then. Would they simply go their separate ways? Maratelle back to Arkanis to be their Senator and Vespera making a living any way she could?

Vespera liked to think that what they had was more than that, but she knew that Maratelle had likely just wanted to pass the time on their way to the Unknown Regions. It made sense, after all. And when it was over, Maratelle would surely find someone better.

But that didn’t mean that Vespera couldn’t enjoy things in the meantime. She ran her hand up Maratelle’s stomach, feeling her soft skin just in case it was the last time she got to touch her like that. Vespera didn’t know how she would go back to the way things were, but she’d manage somehow. She always did.

Vespera slid her hand between Maratelle’s breasts and up to her neck and then her jaw, turning her head so she could kiss her. Just before she did, she saw Maratelle’s eyes starting to flutter open, and soon, Maratelle was kissing her back.

“We’ll be there soon,” Maratelle said as they parted. “We should get dressed.”

“We should,” Vespera said, but she couldn’t resist kissing her again. Maratelle was the best thing that happened to her in a very long time, but she knew that the day might end up being the best day of her life. It was the day she would finally get to kill Brendol and get her son back.

That was enough to get her out of bed. She dressed and headed to the cockpit, where Maratelle soon joined her. Vespera had learned a lot about piloting, although she wasn’t sure she could manage on her own. But she also knew that it was a possibility that she might have to. She wondered if First Order cadets were taught piloting skills. Maybe Armitage would be able to help.

When they came out of hyperspace, a large ship loomed in front of them. A Star Destroyer, but it was even larger than Vespera had imagined. She had no idea how they would manage to find their way around on a ship that size, but somehow, they would. There was no other choice for Vespera.

“You ready for this?” Maratelle asked.

“I’ve been ready for nine years,” Vespera answered. She would never get those nine years back with Armitage, but hopefully she could make up for them.

They joined the line of ships that were heading into the Star Destroyer’s hangar. It felt like the longest wait of Vespera’s life, knowing that Armitage was on that ship. She was so close to him. After all those years, she would finally have her son back.

Once the ship had landed, they were given the option to stay on their ship or go to a lounge on the Star Destroyer to wait. They took the option of leaving their ship, but they didn’t go where they were supposed to. Maratelle said she would be able to find Brendol once they were on board, and Vespera decided to trust her.

Vespera’s biggest worry was that they’d be stopped, as they clearly didn’t belong on the ship, but even they walked by a group of stormtroopers and were ignored.

“They do a lot of business with smugglers,” Maratelle muttered. “It’s easier for them to just let them wander around as long as they don’t cause trouble.”

“We’re going to be causing lots of trouble,” Vespera reminded her.

“They don’t know that yet.”

Maratelle stopped at a computer terminal and a few minutes later, they were on their way again. It was a long walk, but soon, they stood in front of a door and Maratelle drew her blaster and looked at Vespera. She nodded to the other woman, drawing her own blaster, and then, Maratelle knocked on the door.

Less than a minute later — although it felt like forever — the door slid open and Vespera saw her least favorite person in the galaxy. She raised her blaster and Maratelle did the same.

“What the… how did…” Brendol stammered as they pushed him back inside and closed the door behind them.

“Where’s Armitage?” Vespera asked.

“That’s none of your business!” Brendol shouted, seeming to have gotten over the shock at seeing the two of them. “And I’ll make sure you regret coming here!”

“Father?”

Vespera turned at the sound of the small voice and nearly broke down in tears — he was there, right in front of her. The son that had been gone for nine years. He was so big, Vespera couldn’t believe it. She wanted to run to him and hug him and tell him that she would never let anyone take him from her again, but she needed to focus on the problem.

“It seems we have what we came for,” Maratelle said. “Ves?”

“You’re right,” she said. She pulled the trigger on her blaster, the blaster bolt hitting Brendol in the chest. Before he fell to the ground, Maratelle fired another shot into him. He was dead but Vespera shot him two more times, just to be certain.

She holstered her weapon and ran to Armitage, but stopped as he raised a blaster of his own with a shaky hand.

“Stop!” he said. “You’re under arrest!”

“Armitage, don’t you know who I am?”

“You’re the person who murdered my father!”

“Oh, Armitage,” Vespera cried. She should have known that Armitage wouldn’t remember her. Brendol was likely the only family he had. Of course he would be upset. She didn’t know how she would convince him to leave, but before she could think of what to say, a blue stun bolt hit Armitage and he crumpled to the floor.

“Maratelle!”

“We don’t have time,” Maratelle said as she took her jacket off. “We need to get him off the ship.”

Vespera knew she was right. Brendol was dead and now, they needed to escape with Armitage, but she hated to see her son unconscious. Whatever the First Order did to him, she would work on undoing it once they were safely away.

Together, Vespera and Maratelle put the jacket on Armitage to disguise his gray cadet’s uniform and then they picked him up, putting one of his arms over each of their shoulders. As they left Brendol’s quarters, Vespera spat on his corpse, hating him even more for what he’d done to Armitage. 

Vespera was shaking as they made their way back to the hangar. It wasn’t because of Armitage — the boy was light despite his height — but fear that they would be caught. But it seemed like Maratelle had been right about not being bothered as long as they weren’t seen causing trouble. It wasn’t until they were in the hangar that someone spoke to them.

“Run into some trouble?” one of the technicians unloading supplies from their ship asked.

“New crew member,” Maratelle said. “Hasn’t learned to hold his liquor yet.”

“Good help’s hard to find.” The technician walked off and they got Armitage on board and into the quarters that were initially going to be Vespera’s. Now all they had to do was wait.

Once all the supplies were unloaded, they were given clearance to leave. What the First Order didn’t know was that Vespera and Maratelle had taken the supplies and replaced them with explosives. As soon as they were far enough away, they turned their ship to watch and triggered the bombs, watching as they tore a massive hole in the Star Destroyer.

“We did it,” Maratelle said with a grin.

“We did,” Vespera said, although she couldn’t be as happy. Brendol was dead, but Armitage had pointed a blaster at her. He was going to think of her as his enemy and she didn’t know what she was going to do with him.

She headed back to his quarters and sat on the bed next to him, lightly touching his hair. Now that they were finally away, Vespera let the tears that had been threatening to fall since she first saw him come out. Her precious boy was going to hate her, but she knew it had been the right thing to do.

“Ves,” Maratelle said, standing in the doorway. “We’re going to figure this out.”

“I don’t know how,” Vespera said, still crying. “I just wanted my son back.”

“There has to be someone in the Republic who can help him,” Maratelle said, walking further into the room. 

“Who would want to help me?” Vespera said. “I don’t have the credits.”

“Ves,” Maratelle said, sitting next to her. “You’re not in this alone. The two of us can figure this out together. If it takes money, then I’ll give you whatever you need. And I have connections as well.”

“You want to help us?” Vespera said, wiping some of her tears away. She hadn’t even considered that it might be a possibility.

“If you couldn’t tell from the past couple of weeks, I really like you,” Maratelle said, reaching out to brush a strand of hair out of her face. “I’d like this to continue.”

“You do?”

“It’s not every day I get to kill my ex-husband with a beautiful woman,” Maratelle said. “I don’t think it’d be easy for me to walk away after that. Unless that’s what you want.”

“No,” Vespera said, still crying, but now, it was partially out of happiness. She knew healing the damage Brendol did to Armitage would be hard, but at least she wouldn’t go through it alone. “I want you.”

Maratelle kissed the top of Vespera’s head and they held onto each other. Vespera wanted to stay just like that — in Maratelle’s arms while Armitage slept peacefully. But eventually he would wake up and he would be angry and scared. They needed a plan.

“Where are we going to go?” Vespera asked.

“I hear Chandrila’s nice.”


End file.
